Save Article

French Consumer Spending Fell 0.3%
In December, Missing Expectations

PARIS -- French consumer spending fell 0.3% in December from the previous month, a surprisingly weak figure given economists' expectations that spending would be steady or higher.

Insee, the French national statistics agency, Tuesday said an increase in spending on retail goods -- which excludes cars, tires, parts and medical products -- was offset by a slowdown in spending on home appliances, cars and other manufactured goods.